Zydus to use psychometric tests to assess staff performance, potential

The aim is also to take the overall company's approach from task-oriented to one that prepares the organisation for growth.MUMBAI: As Indian drugmakers struggle to keep up with growing demands of regulatory compliance and integrity within the organisation, Zydus Cadila has decided to use psychometric tests to assign roles that suit an employee's personality and not just the skills. The move is part of the overall talent management drive by the nation's fourth largest drugmaker that employs 17,000.

Zydus says it is the first pharma company to embark on such an unconventional approach at assessing talent.

The industry is getting competitive and with that expectations of regulators and consumers from companies like Zydus have increased, managing director Pankaj Patel said in a telephonic conversation. "As an organisation, we need to move to a global level of quality."

The company expects the psychometric tests to help it in this effort by examining qualities that go beyond productivity, giving an idea about what traits an employee displays in a particular situation.

"People have always been measured on performance. Now, we will be measuring both performance and potential," said Prashant Sharma, who heads human relations at Zydus. "We wanted to create a framework about leadership skills and look at qualities that they have to unlearn, and learn."

Sharma said the two key factors required during such a transformation are leadership competency and behavioural change. In areas like quality compliance, a person demonstrating extreme flexibility in the work style might not be the right fit for the job, he explained."So, such assessments help us create different roles. We want to recruit people for certain traits besides their skills."

The aim is also to take the overall company's approach from task-oriented to one that prepares the organisation for growth.

Indian drug companies in the past two years have come under an increased scrutiny of US drug regulator for shortcomings in good manufacturing practices. This has led regulators from other markets, too, to look more closely at drugs made in India. Out of the 19 warning letters issued by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2014, eight were handed to Indian pharma companies. In some of these, the regulator observed that employees were found to be fudging data to meet FDA standards.

In an interview to ET in June, Ajaz Hussain, who was part of the USFDA inspection team in India, stressed that the issue of compliance could be only corrected through behavioural change."The attitude of Indian manufacturers is more output-oriented than quality drive; this adds to the work pressure among employees who are forced to focus on volumes," Hussain had said.